Chapter 7
The next morning, Chris reaches over to Jack's side of the bed and finds it empty. She sits up and looks around for Jack.
"Jack? Where are you?" Chris asks getting up out of bed and searches the apartment. She did not find him. So, then she starts to look for a note. She finds a note on the fridge.
"Sweet Chris, I am sorry I had to leave so early. You were sleeping so peacefully I did not want to wake you. You look like an angel when you sleep. Hope I did not hurt your arm. I would have loved to make you breakfast in bed. Maybe we can do that next time. I will call you when I get back from my business trip. I will explain later. Take care sugar. XOXO Jack"
Chris smiles as she puts the note down on the counter and starts to make some coffee. Once she gets the coffee started, Chris goes to get in the shower. This is when Chris realizes that she is humming Whin the shower. Chris has never hummed or sang in the shower. Chris is careful with washing her injured arm. She reminds herself to take her meds when she gets out of the shower. When she gets out, she is incredibly careful to not do anything to irritate the wound. To dry off enough to dress it with a clean bandage. Then she finishes getting ready to go to work. She is heading out the door when she remembers her meds. Grabs them and leaves.
She does not plan to be home right after work since she has a grief counseling group. Then she was going to just grab something for dinner to bring home. She has laundry to do and knows it is going to take her longer since she has a little discomfort in her arm still. So, it is going to be a nice relaxing evening. Or at least that is what she plans on.
At work, Chris is lost in memories of last night as she gets ready to gear up. In her locker is a cute picture of her and Jack on a picnic. It was their 5th date. As she looks at the photo, there seems to be something off. She cannot put her finger on it. She puts the photo back in the locker, closes it and goes to work.
As she gets into the work floor, it seems like something is abuzz.
"What is going on?" Chris asks into a crowd of people.
"Street is taking on the new guy." Some random male voice says from the crowd. Chris gets to the front of the group and is standing there watching Jim boxing with the new recruit. Chris just stands there watching. She cannot help but think Jim is so hot. The way his body moves. The sweat glistening on his chest. Just then Jim lands a good blow to the poor recruit.
"Street! Oh, are you ok?" Chris asks getting in the ring to help the guy.
"Sure. Good right hook sir. You are a good sparring partner." The guy says getting up with Chris' help. Hondo walks in from Hicks' office.
"Street, go get into gear. We might be looking into something. Chris, might I have a word with you in private?" Hondo asks serious look on his face.
"Sure, what's up?" Chris says walking to the lounge with Hondo.
"We just got an anonymous call that was a threat on you. Have you had any problems with anyone?" Hondo asks.
"No. Everything has been great the last few months. The only not so great thing was being shot. What was the threat?" Chris asks.
"We are not sure if it is just a hoax or if this is credible. They said that you were going to be blown to pieces. So, until we can debunk this threat, you get a ride home from one of us and we pick you up in the morning. In fact, we think this is the safest place for your vehicle. So, you cannot leave your apartment unless it is with someone else. That is another safety protocol. As you know." Hondo says.
"So, a car bomb? I wonder who I ticked off." Chris says with humor in her voice.
"You need to take this seriously until we can prove it is a hoax. We cannot lose another team member." Hondo comments with his boss voice.
"Ok. So, does that mean I am out of the field again?" Chris asks.
"No. You are with us. You will not be alone. You are in the field. Just make sure you are not alone. Always have a partner." Hondo informs her.
"Thanks for letting me know Hondo. I wanted to tell you that Jack is in on the BBQ. Just let me know where." Chris replies and then walks away. Jim comes up to her.
"Hey, what was that all about?" Jim asks walking beside her.
"It was nothing. Jack is going to the BBQ. I am back in the field. I was going to do some weights to try to strengthen my arm. Want to spot me?" Chris asks turning into the workout area.
"Sure. That is great that Jack has decided to come to the BBQ. How did your dinner go last night?" Jim asks while getting in position to spot her in her weightlifting. Chris lays down on bench. "What size weights do you want?"
"Let us start with 10-pound weights. I can do much more, but I do not want to press my luck." Chris explains. Chris starts to lift the weight. "Dinner last night was rocky at first but turned into a great night. Thanks for asking." Chris is clearly not wanting to talk about last night.
"That is great. I'm glad to hear that it worked out for you." Jim says trying to be a good and supportive friend.
"Yeah. Now he is out of town on business." Chris says grunting each time she lifts the weight.
"What business is he in?" Jim asks.
"CPA." Chris says waiting for jokes to start.
"Cool. That sounds like an interesting job." Jim says supportive.
"Ok. I guess. He does not talk much about his job. He is sweet to me. I like that in a man. Or a woman." Chris says laughing. She has done 25 weight lifts. She can see and feel her arms starting to shake. Chris puts the weight in the holder to give herself a break. She sits up and looks at Jim.
"What?" Jim asks confused.
"I have to go to my grief counseling group tonight. Would you go with me?" Chris asks looking at the floor.
"Sure, but why do you need me to go? I am sure you have been there many times alone or with Jack." Jim says not understanding what is going on.
"Jack is out of town. I need a ride." Chris says trying to get around telling Jim that someone might want to kill her.
"Sure. You know I will always be there for you. What time? Is it the 6pm or 8pm one?" Jim asks.
"Tonight, is at 6pm. Also, since you are being so kind and going with me, I will buy dinner after." Chris says. Then the alarm goes off. They rush to gear up and head out. As they all come out of the headquarters going to Black Betty, they hear what sounds like a shot ring out. There was a bullet hole in the car next to Chris. It was near the gas tank. Gas starts to trickle out onto the ground. Chris sees this and turns to her team.
"Run!" Chris yells taking off. She knew all it would take is another shot at the gas puddle on the ground and kaboom. They run and get behind Black Betty. Chris is the last to get there and was not quite all the way behind. So, when the shot rings out and the explosion happens, Chris is thrown forward some.
Car alarms are going off. Chris is flat on the ground face down. She is not moving. The other team members get up and rush over to Chris. Hicks and others from inside come rushing out.
"What the hell happened?" Hicks yells as he comes upon the group.
"There were two shots! Sniper type shots. One hit the gas tank and the other hit the puddle of gas and blew up. Chris saw it and warned us. What the hell is happening?" Luca yells leaning over Chris looking for injuries. It is not too long before an ambulance is rolling into the parking lot. Hicks rushes back in and sends another team out on the call. Then rushes back out to see how Chris is.
"I should have kept her here. We all thought it was a hoax. Damn, this is on me." Hondo says while the EMTs look at Chris. Chris who was rolled over onto her back take a hug gasp of breath. Like she had the wind knocked out of her.
"Hondo, it is…not your..fault." Chris says kind of breathless. She sounds like she just ran a marathon.
"Chris, how are you doing? Anything hurt?" Hondo asks before the EMT can ask.
"I have ringing in my ears. A headache. I think my arm hurts a little." Chris says sitting up and slowly moving her arm that had the gun shot wound in it. The EMT take her jacket off the takes the bandage off her arm to look at it.
"Not too bad. A little bruising. And a tiny area that looks like it might have reopened. I will clean it then rebandage it. Although I think you do need to go in for a CT scan. You could have a concussion. You want to make sure there is nothing more. Like brain bleed, traumatic brain injury and anything else. You are lucky. Let me clean these little cuts on your face." The EMT says.
"I guess we know that it is not a hoax Hondo. I just do not know who I pissed off." Chris says wincing as the EMT cleans the cuts.
"What are you talking about?" Deacon asks confused.
"Hicks and I got word that there might have been a threat on Christina Alonso' life. I was going to tell the rest of you after work. Because we are going to have to be here rides and back up anywhere she goes. They were talking about blowing her up. So, we assumed that it meant her vehicles. Never did we think there would be an attack at HQ." Hondo says still in shock.
"I might not have anything to do with me. It could just be that they were trying to take out cops in general. I just happened to be closer to the car. Let us not overreact. I am fine. Although my head does hurt. So, I will go to the hospital and let them run my tests. You are all ok, right?" Chris asks looking around to do a head count.
"We are all good. All because you warned us. Thanks Chris. I will go with Chris to the hospital. So, when she is done with the tests, I can bring her back." Jim says.
"Sure. Street, when she is done just take her home. We can regroup tomorrow." Hondo says.
"I will pill your team from rotation. Just for now. You guys can be looking into this while Chris and Jim are at the hospital and then home. When you all come in tomorrow, you can share information. Chris, I want a call to let me know how you are. If I do not hear anything by 5, I will come looking for you." Hicks says while other cops are looking at the crime scene and taking photos. They help Chris get into the ambulance with Jim getting in with her. The ambulance pulls out and the cops go to work to figure this out.
A/N: Thank you for reading. Please review. Have a nice day.